


To Like Like A Human

by ShineBrightStarLight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Human Lance (Voltron), It's not explicitly mentioned but Shiro is in a triad with Curtis and Adam, M/M, Mentioned Lance (Voltron)'s Family, Mermaids!, Merperson Keith (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Surfer Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 01:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19916653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShineBrightStarLight/pseuds/ShineBrightStarLight
Summary: Keith loved the shore, more than he should. He knew it was dangerous up there, but he hated the deep, dark ocean his pod thrived in. He'd much rather spend his time basking in the sun. His preference for the surface is only encouraged when he meets a human named Lance.





	To Like Like A Human

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my Wattpad account, AthenasDream. I just wanted to cross post it. It was written a few months ago for a friend, so it isn't really my typical style but it was nice to diverge from my usual.

Keith smiled as he basked in the sun. He wasn’t supposed to be even close to the surface, never mind above it. But the sun was so warm, it heated his scales perfectly. He was the only merperson he knew who hated the deep ocean where they lived. The pod had been there as long as anyone could remember, but Keith couldn’t wait to leave. It was too cold and dark for him.

This beach was the most secluded one he had found. He had never seen a human here, or even a trace of them (except for their trash that washed up from the ocean), so when he saw one, a human, he froze. 

Shiro had told him tales of humans, little guppies were told horror stories about them to scare them away from the surface. Tales of merfolk being captured and eaten, or worse, being held in tanks for experimentation and for entertainment. But Keith, Keith was curious. This was by far the closest he had ever gotten to one, and it didn’t look too bad. 

The human hadn’t spotted him peeking over the rocks. He seemed engrossed in his own world. He was carrying one of the boards that Keith had seen others use to stay afloat. Humans always wore things to cover their bodies, but nobody had ever figured out why. Some said that they had grotesque figures underneath, that it was to lure merfolk close to them with their similar faces. To lure merfolk into a false sense of security. But as the boy pulled of the top half of his cover, Keith could say that that was not true. 

The boy’s torso was surprisingly similar to Keith’s, minus the scales and Keith’s pale skin colour, of course. The boy dropped his cloth next to another one and headed towards the water. Keith knew he would have to move soon if he didn’t want to get spotted, but something about this human captivated him. His curiosity was piqued. 

A huge wave came over the horizon, and for a moment Keith panicked. The human would never survive that, and Keith wouldn’t be able to save him if he got swept off to sea. But the boy surprised him.

He paddled towards the wave, and then stood on his board. Despite his lack of fin and scales, the boy looked more at home in the water than Keith did. 

“He’s amazing,” Keith murmured. He wanted to get a closer look, to see how the boy swam. He cautiously moved forward, darting to the closest rocks. Keith knew getting any closer would be stupid, dangerous even. The boy could be a trap. But the human laughed in the water, joyous and heartfelt. Keith didn’t think it was a trap, he didn’t even think the boy was dangerous.

He moved the tiniest bit closer, entranced by the way the boy made the board move. He looked so happy. Keith was jolted out of his thoughts by movement in his direction. The human was heading towards him. He dived off the rock, swimming deep into the sea. The wave crashed above him, and something fell into the water. 

It was the boy.

Keith gasped and desperately swam towards him. The boy was sinking, not even trying to get back to the surface. Humans couldn’t breathe water, could they? If Keith got any closer, and the pod found out, he could be kicked out. But if he didn’t move, the human would die. Keith knew he had to do the right thing; he would face the consequences later.

Keith swam faster and grabbed the boy. There was a cut on his forehead that was bleeding, turning the water around him a pinkish red. It would attract the many sharks in the area. The sharks would leave Keith alone, sure, but not a defenceless human, a free meal like that? No way. 

Keith put all his energy into propelling them to the surface. His tail was built for speed, not strength. He wished he had a sturdier tail like Shiro’s, which would easily accept the extra weight. Once he got to the shore, he pushed the boy ahead of him, further from the waves and waited. He still wasn’t breathing, why wasn’t he breathing? Keith leaned forward, accidentally putting his weight on the boy’s chest, and water dribbled out of his mouth. Keith turned him onto his side as the boy gasped for air. 

Once he was sure the human would be okay, he darted back to the water. Keith hide behind a rock just to make sure the boy would wake up properly. After a few seconds of coughing, he sat up with a gasp. 

“Hello?” the human called, “Is somebody there?” Keith shrank back further hiding him from sight. “Hello? I know someone is here, you saved me.” 

The boy shakily stood up, looking around the area. Keith waited until he was looking in the other direction before diving into the ocean again. That was close, too close. He could never go back to that beach again. 

Keith, despite his promise to himself, ended up going back to the beach again. And again. And again. It was about a week later that he saw the boy again, but this time he wasn’t alone. 

“I swear Hunk, somebody saved me! But when I woke up nobody was there, and there were no footprints! I think it was…” the boy dropped his voice dramatically and leaned towards his companions. “A mermaid,” he whispered. 

Keith, who was hiding behind his favourite rock, felt his heart skip a beat. No, no, nonononono. He knew! And to make matters worse, he told someone else! Keith was as good as dead. Even being the leader of the pod’s little brother wouldn’t save him. 

“Right Lance, I’m sure that's what happened buddy,” the bigger companion, Hunk, said. The smaller one frowned at them both. 

“Don’t humour him, Hunk. He probably just got washed up on the shore and the lack of oxygen made him hallucinate.” 

“Pidge! I’m being serious here! How come you believe in Mothman of all things but not in mermaids?” the boy, Lance, said. Keith grinned despite the terror he was feeling. Lance suited him; it was a pretty name.

“Because, the people who saw Mothman weren’t half dead. And Mothman wasn’t invented as a way to sell new products to little girls. I’m going back to the car.” The small one left, headed up the path to the car (whatever that was, Keith thought).

Lance looked forlorn. Hunk put his hand on his shoulder, then pulled him into a hug. “Sorry buddy, but I have to agree with Pidge. On the lack of oxygen thing, not the little girl thing! I know you believe what you saw was real, but it just seems a bit far fetched. Come on, let’s go home.”

Keith readied himself to slip back into the water as soon as they turned the other way but paused at the sound of Lance’s voice. “You go ahead, I’ll walk home. Sorry for dragging you out here for nothing.” Lance sounded so hurt. Keith turned the other way. His heart clenched. He was the reason Lance was hurting. 

“Okay buddy.” Keith heard one set of footsteps, leading away from the beach. He waited a few seconds before he turned to peek over the rock.

And came face to face with Lance. 

They both shrieked. Keith pushed himself backwards off the rock with more force then necessary, landing on his bottom in a rock pool. He pulled himself out, wincing as some of his scales were ripped free and launched himself into the water. 

He didn’t dare turn back, even when he heard Lance call out to him. 

Their next meeting was not Keith’s fault. Keith had had a bad argument with Shiro about his parents and his future. Shiro supposedly knew them but wouldn’t tell Keith anything. He had found Keith when he was a tiny guppy and raised him himself. Keith was fed up not knowing who he was. He didn’t fit in with the others in the pod, no matter how hard Shiro tried. The other guppies had hated him on sight. 

And his tail made it worse. Most merfolk had one solid colour, with a few lighter or dark shades, like Shiro’s tail which faded from lavender to a deep rich purple at his fins. Keith’s was a kaleidoscope of colour. It was mainly a vibrant red, but his fins were black as night, the same colour as his hair. He had colourful scales scattered throughout, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange and pink. They followed no rhyme or reason. Keith had a vague memory of someone comparing them to stars, but it was overrun with the scorn of other guppies. 

Shiro wanted Keith to follow in his footsteps, but Keith begged him to claim another heir. The pod would never follow Keith. It led to one of the worst arguments in Keith’s life, leaving Keith to flee to the surface for solitude. He liked watching the stars. He didn’t know what exactly they were, but he loved them. They were so beautiful. 

So, he went up to the surface, knowing that nobody, not even Shiro would follow him. He wanted to be alone, to process his thoughts. He wanted to know more about his parents. He didn’t even know if they were dead! Did they reject him like everyone else did? Shiro was the only one who stayed with him, but even he would leave eventually. His only memory of his parents was a song. He started to hum it, trying to remember the lyrics.

“What would I give if I could live out of these waters?  
What would I pay to spend the day warm on the sand?  
Bet’cha on land, they understand  
Bet they don’t reprimand their daughters  
Bright young women  
Sick of swimming  
Ready to stand.”

He could only remember pieces of the rest, but the memory made him feel warm. He didn’t know why his parents sung a song about wanting to go to the land, but it was strangely fitting for Keith. 

Suddenly, he heard slow clapping. He gasped and turned around quickly, ready to swim as far away as possible. “Wait! Please! Don’t leave, I just want to talk to you!” 

Lance.

Maybe it was the simmering hurt and anger from his fight. Maybe it was his fear of abandonment. Regardless, Keith made possibly the stupidest (or best) mistake of his life.

He stayed. 

“Why was a mermaid singing a song from the Little Mermaid?” Keith didn’t know what The Little Mermaid was. He felt so shy all of a sudden.

“I’m not a mermaid,” he muttered, “I’m a merman, or merperson. What’s The Little Mermaid?” 

Lance gasped, “What do you mean 'what is The Little Mermaid'? You’re literally singing one of its songs!” 

Keith drifted closer to Lance. From this distance, he could make out the freckles on his nose, and his bright blue eyes. The moonlight reflected off the water around them. Keith wondered why he felt so drawn to this human. 

Lance had frozen, staring at Keith as well. He seemed to have forgotten their conversation. They stared into each other’s eyes. “Your name’s Lance and you like to swim. Your friends didn’t believe you when you told them about me.”

Lance’s eyes widened, “And you’re the mermaid I still don’t know the name of, who saves random humans and apparently watched them.” 

Keith blushed and ducked his head. “Keith,” he murmured, “My name’s Keith.” 

The boys continued to gaze at each other, taking in every little detail. 

“Keith! Keith!!”

Keith gasped, Shiro was nearby! “I’m sorry I can’t be here; I have to go!” Keith gave Lance a small smile and swam deep into the ocean, as far away from the beach as possible.

After that, the boys found themselves meeting at the beach ever few days. Keith had narrowly managed to avoid Shiro finding out about the beach, but he had to be careful. If he could, he’d spend every moment at the beach with Lance. 

They talked about everything and anything. Lance described life on land, his many siblings and his friends. Keith talked about Shiro and the ocean. Lance wanted to study ocean creatures in ‘college’, whatever that was. That had scared Keith initially, but Lance explained that he wanted to study sharks, he loved them. 

Keith found himself getting more and more excited and impatient for his meetings with Lance. When he wasn’t with him, he found himself thinking about Lance. Whether he would like this particular shell or rock. Whether he should take Lance to visit the sharks. Sharks were friendly enough with mers, and Keith was confident that he could get Lance out of there if anything went wrong. He eventually decided against it, in case another mer saw them. 

He did start a small collection of pretty rocks and shells for him though. Keith tried his hardest to keep it from his nosy brother, but Shiro caught on pretty quickly.  
“Ohh, you got your eye on someone?” Shiro asked one day, breaking Keith out of his thoughts. Keith had been staring at a gorgeous blue shell, the exact colour of Lances eyes. 

“Wh- No! There’s nobody,” he said maybe a bit too forcefully. 

“Can’t fool me kiddo, I’ve seen you collecting rocks for them. Have you forgotten I have two of my own mates? I know courting behaviour when I see it. So, who is it? Someone in the pod?”

Keith panicked; he couldn’t let Shiro know that he was visiting a human. Never mind the fact that he wasn’t courting him! “No, he’s um, just passing through.”

“Huh, I haven’t heard of any pods nearby, is that where you’ve been spending all your time?” Shiro had turned back to his work, but Keith knew he was paying attention. Poor Shiro was probably so excited that his little brother was finally interested in courting and mating.

“Y-yeah.” 

Thankfully, Shiro left it at that, probably trusting Keith to tell him more when he was ready. He did send Keith a wink or smirk whenever he left their cave or caught him looking too hard at a rock though.

Keith showed up at the beach a few days later with the blue shell. Lance loved it, and Keith couldn’t help the pride and warmth in his chest. He decided that he would find the prettiest shells for Lance. 

The next week, he found a small rock that had been split open. The inside had many purple-white jewels. Lance had said that they had a similar rock on land, but he’d never seen it in person before. 

Then, it was a beautiful piece of glass, smoothed down by waves, sand and time. The light glimmered and shone where it hit. 

The week after was a gold chain Keith had found far out into the depths. There was a rumour of an old sunken ship, but nobody in recent memory had swam far enough to find it. Keith had hoped to find more jewels, but the chain was just as beautiful.

After a good deal of searching, Keith found a dark red shell. It was similar to his own colouring, though without the extra flecks of colour. As he swam to the surface to meet Lance, he spotted another shell on the seabed. He was close enough to see Lance, so he handed him the first shell and then returned for the second.  
He was so focused on digging the beautiful white shell up, that he didn’t notice the stray fishing net until it was too late. It caught one of his fins, and in his shock Keith twisted away. His attempt to dislodge it only further tangled him. His arms were trapped close to his body, one hand still clutching the shell. Keith struggled against the rope, hoping he could tear it with brute strength. He only succeed in getting the rope around his neck, cutting off his water supply. 

He gasped for water and kept struggling, even as a small part of his mind told him to stop. He could feel the rope burning marks where it rubbed across his skin. It even pulled several of his scales free. His neck started to bruise, and black spots filled his vision. Just before he fell unconscious, he thought he saw a flash of blue. 

Keith woke up with a scream as pain ripped through his body. He felt like his tail was being split in half. He cried out, trying to curl up, trying to protect himself from whatever was hurting him. 

“Hey, hey, you’re okay Keith, everything’s okay,” a soft voice said. A warm hand rubbed up and down his back soothingly. Lance.

Keith tried to ask what was happening, but all he managed was a moan of pain. “I know, I know. You’re okay, cariño, I promise.” 

Lance stayed with Keith through the waves of pain. Keith had no idea how long they lasted, it could have been seconds, minutes or hours to him. 

Eventually, the pain let off, but Keith remained laying on what he now recognised as sand. The last thing he remembered was the shell, how did he end of here, in so much pain? He still hadn’t opened his eyes; he was afraid of what he might see. 

Lance coaxed him to open his eyes though, filling his vision with a gentle smile. “Wh’appen’d?” Keith slurred.

“You got stuck in a net, hun. And umm, well, maybe it’s better you see for yourself.” 

Lance directed his attention to his tail, no legs. Keith took one look at them and promptly started laughing. “I’m- I’m dreaming,” He said between peels of laughter, “I should have known once you showed up, Lance.” He fell onto his back, wiping tears from his eyes. He only stopped once he realised Lance wasn’t laughing too. 

He looked at Lance who was frowning, his face slowly turning bright red. “This isn’t a dream Keith. And uh, you’re naked.” 

“Of course, this is a dream! Merfolk don’t just grow legs Lance!” But still, Keith’s mind was whirling with the implications. He actually had real legs? He could visit all those places Lance talked about, like Walmart and Starbucks. But what about Shiro, he would be so worried when Keith didn’t come home.

Lance suddenly dropped his hoodie on Keith’s head, pointedly looking the other way. “Please put that on, it’s all I have with me, but I can’t take you seriously when your naked, ay, Dios mío.” 

Keith slipped the warm hoodie on. It was soft and smelled like Lance and the beach. It fell to mid-thigh, suitably covering his crotch. (Why did humans just have their junk out at all times? That was so weird, what if it got hurt or damaged?)

“You can look now,” he said.

Lance slowly turned around, face still beat red and didn’t make eye contact with him. Neither of them said anything for a few moments. 

“What now?” Keith asked softly, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t swim anymore, I can’t see my brother. I have legs!! Legs!! Where am I supposed to live? Is this permanent?” Keith spoke faster and faster, barely breathing between questions. 

“I- I don’t know, I’m sorry Keith.” Lance looked just as upset as Keith felt, and Keith instantly felt bad. He didn’t want Lance to feel responsible for this, it wasn’t his fault. Keith was just frustrated and scared.

Keith took a deep breath in, “No, no. I’m sorry. It’s just scary.” Keith glanced down at his new legs again, and realised he was still holding the shell that got him in this mess in the first place. 

“Here,” he said shyly, “This is for you.” He held it out to Lance in his open palm. When Lance picked it up, tingles went down Keith’s legs and he gasped. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as the first time, just extremely uncomfortable. He fell backwards again, struggling for air. 

“Keith!” Lance cried, “Your tail, it’s back!” 

Both boys stared in shock at Keith’s tail. It was perfect, the same as it always was. You’d never be able to tell that just a few seconds ago it was a pair of legs. Keith lifted his head slowly to make eye contact with Lance. 

“Does this mean what I think it means?” he smirked. 

Lance taught Keith how to walk for the rest of the afternoon. He also practiced shifting between his two ‘forms’, as they were calling it. The more he did it, the easier it got, although he did notice that he tired easier in between each one. Keith lost his dignity pretty quickly. His legs were just so weak! And trying to move each one in a separate direction was so confusing. Luckily the sand was a nice enough cushion for his fall. 

They called it quits as the sun began to set. Keith knew he had been there for far too long already, but he wasn’t ready to leave Lance’s company just yet. The ocean seemed so dark and cold, compared to the sunny, fun-filled afternoon he’d just had. 

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the gentle breeze and each-others company. Keith wondered if Lance was just as reluctant to leave as he was. Or maybe he was just being nice. Keith rested his head on his knees (so bony!), face turned towards Lance. He was watching the sunset, face awash with red light. He looked so peaceful. Keith’s eyes traced the smattering of freckles on his cheeks, his gently sloped nose to his blue, blue eyes. 

Keith looked away quickly when he realised he’d been caught. His face burned, probably turning the same red colour Lances had earlier (Blushing, Lance told him. Keith had never seen any merfolk blush before but apparently, he did it too).

A gentle hand grasped his, the other cupping his cheek and turning his face back to Lance. Lance was incredibly close, Keith felt dazed as he took in his features. 

“Keith…” he whispered softly. His eyelashes fluttered as he leaned forwards. Keith held his breath, unable to move.

“Lance!! Mi hijo, where are you?!” A voice cut through their little bubble. Lance wrenched backwards, pulling away from Keith as though he had been burned. A flash of hurt shot through Keith’s chest. Maybe he misread the situation.

Lance shoved Keith towards the water. “You can’t be here!” he hissed. Once Keith was waist deep, he pulled off Lance’s hoodie and handed it to him along with the shell. He gave Lance a small smile and dived under the waves, transforming as he went.

Keith didn’t go back to the beach for nearly a week. Shiro was not happy that he’d disappeared for a whole day, missing the hunt he was supposed to go on. And yeah, maybe Keith could have slipped away, if he really wanted to, but he couldn’t bring himself to. That day was one of the best of his life, excluding his near-death experience, and whatever had happened at the end. 

He was slowly coming to realise what he already, subconsciously, knew. He liked Lance. He wanted to court Lance. He maybe, possibly was the tiniest bit in love with Lance. And maybe it was some human cultural thing, but Keith really thought that they were going to kiss. And Lance had just shoved him away like it was nothing. He might have been able to understand if he was in his merman form, but he wasn’t, he was human. 

And he realised that whatever feelings he had for Lance, would never lead to anything. Even if Lance did like him back, what were they going to do, spend the rest of their lives on the beach? Keith didn’t know how long he could stay human for. He didn’t know if it would work past the beach. Lance had a life past the beach, a life that Keith would never be apart of. He would probably get bored of Keith or find a nice human to settle down with. And that was all if Lance even recuperated, which he probably didn’t.

But Keith couldn’t stay away for long. He never could, even when it hurt him more than he was willing to admit. He found himself sunbathing on the rocks again. Lance wasn’t there, which was fine, Lance didn’t live on the beach. Keith was willing to wait for him. Keith felt himself slipping into a deep sleep, lured by the sound of the waves and the feel if the sun on his skin. 

“Keith,” a voice whispered in his dreams. “Cariño, wake up.”

Keith woke up slowly, his senses coming back to him one by one. He could feel the rough rock and sand beneath him, the gentle breeze blowing in from the sea. He heard the waves lapping on the shore, and the seagulls ahead. He could taste the salt in the air. He slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them to remove any sleep. His vision was blurry, but he could make out tanned skin and blue eyes. 

“Hey Keith, long time no see.” Keith winced. Was it so wrong to hope that they could just go back to how it was before?

“Hi,” he said, averting his eyes. There was an awkward pause. 

“Listen, Keith I’m sorry-“ “I’m so sorry, Lance-“

“Wait what? What are you apologising for?” Keith gazed at Lance in shock. Lance looked away before taking a deep breath and facing him again. 

“I’m sorry, for making you uncomfortable. I should have asked before I tried to kiss you, I should have known you didn’t like me like that-“ 

“Stop.” Keith held up his hand, trying to process everything. “What do you mean ‘like you like that’, like what?” 

“I like you Keith, like, like like you.” Lance said, blushing, “So, I’m sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to feel the same way. Really, we can just go back to-“ 

Keith cut him off with a kiss. It was awkward and a bit uncomfortable, Keith was too low to the ground, and he nearly pulled Lance straight on to him. But Lance’s lips were soft and tasted sweet, and Keith wouldn’t have had it any other way. Keith reached his hands up, one cupping Lance’s cheek and the other sliding into his hair. Lance was stiff, but he slowly relaxed, placing his hands on Keith’s waist. 

They pulled apart to breathe. Lance’s face was flushed, and his eyes were wide. Keith couldn’t help the grin that crept up his face, hurting his cheeks it was so wide. 

“I like you too, you idiot, like, like like. I thought I made you uncomfortable, or that you were ashamed of me. That’s why I haven’t been back. I’m sorry.” 

The boys looked at each other, only breaking their gaze when they started laughing. They giggled helplessly, holding each other up. They calmed down finally and ended up cuddling on the rock. 

“What does this mean now?” Keith asked, his tail flicking lazily where it rested in the water. 

Lance hummed, considering for a moment. “I don’t really know yet. I do want one thing though; will you be my boyfriend?” 

Keith smiled, pressing a kiss to Lance's chest, “I would love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Baby's first AO3 fic, let me know if I missed any tags.
> 
> Also, Keith's dad was human, and Krolia is a mermaid. Once Tex realised he was having a half-merfolk kid he showed Krolia 'The Little Mermaid', then Keith was obsessed with it when he got a bit older. You know the way kids get obsessed with something and it has to be playing on repeat for twelve hours to get them to calm down? Imagine Tex and Krolia losing their minds to 'The Little Mermaid'. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
